南大西洋洋中脊板块构造运动过程:古地磁的约束

海底磁异常的形态与洋中脊两侧板块的微运动或变形密切相关.因此,这方面的研究可为确定板块运动的演化历史、小尺度的动力学过程以及洋中脊分段的机制等提供重要约束.本文对南大西洋一段洋中脊(31°S—34.5°S)两侧的磁异常的偏度进行了系统研究.结果表明研究区域内扩张方向并不总是垂直于洋中脊走向,并且研究区域不同剖面的扩张方向也不一致,具体表现为从北向南,平均扩张方向逐渐增加,依次为33.6°±5.3°、62.8°±13.0°以及94.3°±8.0°.这表明洋中脊的倾斜扩张机制具有复杂性,初步解释应该与转换断层的剪切应力增加有关.深部辉长岩层倾斜和扩张速率不对称性对海底磁异常偏度的影响值得深入研究.另外,由北向南确定的欧拉极向东移动,表明洋中脊两侧的板块在6.5 Ma期间存在剧烈形变.     

Virtual Pole from Magnetic Anomaly (VPMA): A procedure to estimate the age of a rock from its magnetic anomaly only

Virtual Pole from Magnetic Anomaly (VPMA) is a new multi-disciplinary methodology that estimates the age of a source rock from its magnetic anomaly, taken directly from available aeromagnetic data. The idea is to use those anomalies in which a strong remanent magnetic component is likely to occur. Once the total magnetization of the anomaly is computed through any of the currently available methods, the line that connects all virtual paleogeographic poles is related with the position, on a paleogeographic projection, of the appropriate age fragment of the APWP curve. We applied this procedure to five (5) well-known magnetic anomalies of the South American plate in SE Brazil, all of them associated to alkaline complexes of Mesozoic age. The apparent ages obtained from VPMA on three of the anomalies where the radiometric age of the source rock is known – Tapira, Araxá and Juquiá – were inside the error interval of the published ages. The VPMA apparent ages of the other two, where the age of the source rock is not known (Registro and Pariqueraçu magnetic anomalies) were geologically coherent. We expect that the application of the VPMA methodology as a reconnaissance geochronological tool may contribute to geological knowledge over continental areas, especially when the source rocks of the magnetic anomalies are unknown or buried below superficial sediments.